The epic global leadership fail

By Steve Pearlstein – Leadership is difficult to define but easy to notice when it’s gone missing. Surely any definition of leadership includes the instinct for seeing the big picture, the ability to get people to acknowledge unpleasant reality, and the willingness to take the personal risks necessary to secure the common good. By that definition, the world would appear to be suffering from a profound leadership deficit.

Those who argue that it will require the 2012 elections to break the political stalemate are just kidding themselves. Voters are neither equipped nor inclined to create grand bargains. Those require leadership. If the budget deficit is not tamed now, the chances are it won’t be until the economy is in a steep decline. more> http://twurl.nl/80zl0h

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• How We’re Doing as Europe Falters, Alan Berube and Domenico Lombardi, Brookings

Europe: the rise of the technocracy

Editorial – The rise of the technocracy, to distort Michael Young’s famous phrase, is what we are witnessing. This ugly term conveys two separate things. The first is a contrast with a more familiar “ocracy” – that derived from “demos”, a Greek word which brings to mind the common people. Messrs Papademos and Monti have not had to worry about them since both are unelected.

A century plus a decade has passed since Britain was ruled by a prime minister from the pre-democratic splendour of the Lords. Yet the former European commissioner Mr Monti was last week installed as a life senator just before being asked to form a government. Meanwhile in Athens a central banking bureaucrat, Mr Papademos, was called in to fill a vacancy created precisely because the previous premier had flirted with the dangerous idea of giving the people a say on austerity, through a referendum. more> http://twurl.nl/i57zo3

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• Why are technologists and scientists excluded from economy-level decision-making roles in today’s technology-driven economy? LinkedIn discussion
• Merkel: Europe in toughest times since World War II, Noah Barkin and Stephen Brown, Reuters
• Mario Monti heralds new era for Italy as Berlusconi bows out, John Hooper, Guardian
• High Hopes for the ‘Italian Prussian’ in Rome, cgh/SPIEGEL ONLINE
• Opinion: The political clown resigns, Super Mario takes over, Bernd Riegert, acb/Deutsche Welle
• What’s a Technocrat? (slate.com)
• The European project is now sustained by coup (blogs.telegraph.co.uk)
• GlobalPost: Eurozone crisis a blow to democracy (cbsnews.com)
• Europe faces worst hour since War, Merkel warns (business.financialpost.com)
• Europe’s worst hour since 2nd World War, says Angela Merkel (independent.co.uk)

Regenerative Braking

By John Donovan – When you either lift your foot from the accelerator or press on the brake pedal, the main drive motor temporarily operates as a generator, working to partially recharge the battery bank. In this mode, the motor produces a drag on the front wheels, slowing the car, though not to a complete stop. As the car slows, the effect of the regenerative braking fades out and the friction brakes take you the rest of the way to a full stop. more> http://twurl.nl/3khl41

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If the supercommittee fails…

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By Alexander Bolton – A supercommittee failure would trigger $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts and set up a yearlong fight among lawmakers to protect favored programs.

Failure could cause stock markets to crash, would raise new questions about the U.S. credit rating, and it will also frame a series of issues on taxes and spending central to the 2012 election. more> http://twurl.nl/bplien

Related articles

• Supercommittee needs to ‘bite the bullet,’ says President Obama (thehill.com)
• Deal-breaker election looms over supercommittee negotiations, Alexander Bolton and Russell Berman, Hill
• What we can learn from Europe’s mess, Judd Gregg, Hill
• Supercommittee Making Little Progress, Lawmakers Warn (huffingtonpost.com)
• Deficit panel unlikely to go big (theneteconomy.wordpress.com)
• Supercommittee Hopes Dwindling (politicalwire.com)
• Supercommittee Impact On Your Stock Ivestments (ritholtz.com)
• Debt-Cutting Accord May Be ‘Two-Step Process,’ Hensarling Says – BusinessWeek (businessweek.com)